The Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) is a non-profit representing organic and conventional farmers with a very simple mission – to provide credible, science-based information about the safety of all produce.  Despite a small budget, the AFF is making an impact, especially when it comes to countering fear-based campaigns like the annual release of the “dirty dozen” list.

Over the last 10 years the AFF has provided toxicology studies and analyses, government sampling data, information about farming practices and nutrition research to reassure consumers and their families about their shopping choices.  Whether they choose organic or conventional fruits and vegetables, consumers should know that the science strongly supports that both are safe and can be eaten with confidence.

Our work to provide credible safety information takes on even more importance since only one in 10 of us eat enough produce each day.  And, studies show the negative impact on any produce purchasing – organic or conventional – when consumers are exposed to fear-based messaging, like those presented in the “dirty dozen” list release.

So what has the AFF’s impact been on the “dirty dozen” list?  Media coverage of the list has diminished to a point that only a handful of mainstream outlets cover it – and most of those outlets now include balancing information from the AFF.  More significant is our impact on social media where 80% of the “dirty dozen” list mentions skew negative while 90% of the AFF mentions are positive.

The AFF accomplished this turn around by building a strong network of nutritionists and dietitians, scientists and farmers who help share the information found at safefruitsandveggies.com.  We also stay on the side of science and only post studies that have been peer reviewed or analyses conducted by experts from academia or government agencies.  The “dirty dozen” list authors can’t make the same statement.

It should be noted that the “dirty dozen” list authors have 60 full time staffers, a headquarters in Washington DC and a budget of $14+ million, which is 99% bigger than the AFF’s budget. For further comparison, the AFF has two employees and a small office in the farming community of Watsonville, California.  And, yet we have more consumers than ever trusting our information and rejecting the “dirty dozen” list.  This goes to the quality of our content, science and information.

And, think about what we could accomplish with just a little bit more  – we could hold additional media tours so more can see firsthand the care and commitment of organic and conventional farmers.  We could conduct in-depth research to help us all better understand and address the needs and safety concerns of consumers.  We could expand outreach efforts to continue building our network of influencers.  This would move us closer to our ultimate goal of removing unwarranted safety fears as a barrier to consumption of produce.

Consider helping us advance our work to reassure consumers about the safety of produce by becoming a member of the AFF. Click here to learn more about the AFF and the member benefits.

Please note that the AFF only accepts funding from farmers of fruits and vegetables, companies that sell, market or ship fruits and vegetables or organizations that represent produce farmers.